


somehow i’ve fallen in love with this middle ground at the cost of my soul

by maybesandsomedays



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: Academy Era, F/M, Jemma's wingman!Fitz, lots of drinking in the Boiler Room
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-27
Updated: 2015-05-27
Packaged: 2018-04-01 15:37:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,466
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4025386
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/maybesandsomedays/pseuds/maybesandsomedays
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Fitz wants nothing more than to see Jemma happy, and he's noticed that Jemma likes hooking up with hot, muscley men. So Fitz takes it upon himself to help Jemma gets dates while trying to ignore the fact that he's in love with her.</p>
            </blockquote>





	somehow i’ve fallen in love with this middle ground at the cost of my soul

**Author's Note:**

  * For [theradiointukyshead](https://archiveofourown.org/users/theradiointukyshead/gifts).



> This was intended to be a birthday present for the lovely and wonderful Hoang Anh theradiointukyshead, but I'm a few minutes late posting it. But regardless, Happy Birthday, Hoang Anh!! <3 <3
> 
> Title comes from "Mercury" by Sleeping at Last.

[8:35 P.M. to: Simmons]: need help in lab you busy

Immediately after typing out the text, Fitz deletes it and pockets his phone. He should have remembered—Jemma’s with one of her fling boytoys again, a muscular man who Fitz thought was dumb as a brick and about as interesting as one, but Jemma seemed to like that type of man, so Fitz had pointed him out when they’d seen him in the dining hall and now she was off sleeping with him.

  
He does that a lot for Jemma, finding her dates. He likes helping her out, likes being a good, useful friend. He’d do anything to see Jemma happy, and these hot, dumb men seemed to make her happy, so Fitz tries his hardest to get her a date with any guy he sees fitting that description.

So when one night Jemma seeks him out after a bad day, he brings her to the Boiler Room in order to do just that. It’s surely why she came to him, he thinks. He’s proving to be a great wingman, after all.

* * *

 Fitz softly taps on the bar surface near Jemma’s elbow to get her attention. When he has it, he nods towards a man a few seats away. “He looks like your type.”

Jemma peers over and considers. “Nice, symmetrical facial structure, well-built body, good hair…oh yes, he is rather handsome.”

Using only a feather-light touch, a brush of his fingertips against her side, he nudges her towards the man. “Go on, then.”

“Are you sure? I don’t want to just leave you here, we were supposed to be here together.” She’s already half-off her barstool, one foot on the ground, ready to go forward or back depending on Fitz’s answer.

Fitz shrugs. “Nah, it’s fine. Go ahead.”

She does, hesitantly, looking back at him after she’s taken a few steps away. He watches for a second, but turns away quickly after she starts talking to Hot Muscle Man.

Fitz takes a sip of his beer, resigning himself to a night studying alone while Jemma spent it with Hot George, and when he puts it down, a hand he recognizes instantly grasps it by the neck and Jemma lifts it and takes a swig herself before shoving it into Fitz’s hand. “Come on.”

Fitz looks back at her, perplexed. “You’re not going with him?”

Jemma shakes her head. “Not right now. Fitz, you’ve helped me find three potential sex partners in the past week.”

Fitz slides his finger around the rim of his beer absentmindedly. “Yeah, so?”

“So, it’s your turn. Come on, I’m finding you a date.”

She takes his hand and pulls him out into the crowd of the Boiler Room, and he lets her despite the feeling of dread in the pit of his stomach.

Jemma stands beside him and grins, surveying the crowd, then turning to him. “See anyone you like?”

He looks at her and can’t help but think that he’s currently looking at the only person at the Academy he wants to spend time with.

But he can’t let her down, so he points to a girl, Katie, who’s in his Quantum Physics and seems nice enough, and she’s the second smartest in that class—behind him, of course—but doesn’t hold a candle to Simmons, who’s much smarter than him.

Jemma’s face brightens and she heads over to talk to the girl, practically bouncing with happiness with each step. He follows her and at the last second, hides behind a large pillar close by the girls.

“Hi!” She extends her hand out to Katie, who shakes it curiously. “I’m Jemma Simmons. Call me Simmons.”

“Hey. Katie Griffin.”

“How are you tonight? Enjoying the party?” Jemma’s got a gleam in her eye that scares Fitz.

Katie nods. “Yeah, I like it here. Nice place to relax and all.”

“What are you studying?” Jemma asks suddenly. “I’m biochem, myself.”

“Engineering.”

Jemma beams. “Oh! My friend’s engineering too! Leopold Fitz?”

“Oh yeah, I know him. He’s in one of my classes.”

“Oh!” Jemma chirps, trying to act as though this is brand-new information to her.

“Aren’t you two together? He’s always talking about you. You guys are really cute,” Katie says earnestly.

Jemma flushes bright red. “Fitz and I? Oh, no, I never dreamt.”

The girls walk away then, leaving Fitz worried about what Jemma was up to, but five minutes later she comes sauntering up to him at the bar and slides a slip of paper his way.

“Katie’s number. You’re welcome.”

Fitz looks from her to the paper and back. “How did you get that?”

Jemma shrugs. “She’s nice. Call her tomorrow.”

He will, because he can’t let Jemma or Katie down. Because Jemma went through all the trouble of doing this for him and it’s the least he could do.

Because when you’re in love with your best friend, the best thing to do is to go on a date with someone else to try to get over her.

* * *

He calls Katie the next day, sets up a dinner date. He tells Jemma of their plans and she beams and Fitz feels his heart leap.

“That’s great, Fitz! She’s really lovely, you’ll have a great time.”

Fitz doesn’t know what to do about dates, so he researches fancy date restaurants nearby and chooses one that seems nice. Katie seems impressed by his choice, and he even goes so far as to wear a nice jacket and button-up shirt and tie that Jemma had bought for him once. She’d bought the rocketship tie as a joke, but it’s Fitz’s favorite tie.

He recounts the story of Jemma buying the tie as a prank to Katie, even including important details such as impressions of Jemma’s voice and the way she had scrunched up her nose at him. At the end, however, he notices that Katie isn’t really laughing, and he falters.

“Because…because he called me a rocket scientist? So, rocketships?” He laughs again, but then his face falls and he stares into his pasta. “Jemma tells it better.”

At the end of the date, he walks Katie back to her dorm room to say goodnight.

“Fitz,” Katie calls, just as he’s about to turn away. “Do me a favor, okay? Tell Jemma you love her.”

Fitz can’t even think of a way to deny it. He simply solemnly nods, and Katie kisses his cheek and thanks him for the date and the flowers.

* * *

It’s another night in the Boiler Room, and Fitz and Simmons are seated on a couch by the wall, Jemma lying down with her feet stretched out and her head on Fitz’s shoulder, and they each sip at cocktails, occasionally taking tastes of the other’s.

“You’re so nice to do this for me, helping me get all these blokes,” she says maybe a little too loudly, and her words are slurred together from maybe too many drinks. “You’re my best friend in the world.”

A surge of affection goes through him. “You’re more than that, Jemma.”

Even in her drunken state, she freezes. So does he. “What?”

He’s kicking himself for blurting out the terrible thing that she was never supposed to know, and his mind is racing ten thousand miles per second, and he can’t remember words, can’t think of anything to tell her, and but he has to answer, so he simply opens his mouth and hopes something useful comes out.

“I love you?”

Nope, that was worse. That definitely made everything worse.

And she just stares at him, expressionless, for a brief moment in which he’s terrified that she’s going to leave and say their friendship is over forever, and then she leans overand kisses him.

It’s sloppy, and she misses his mouth the first time, but she kisses points around it until she finds it and he enjoys the misses. She moves over to sit on his lap and straddle him.

“Now you’ve helped me get the best bloke of all,” Jemma says, and Fitz’s heart sinks. Of course this was only a ruse to make a guy jealous or something. There was no way Jemma would ever truly like _him_ , not with the kind of guys she dated.

He pulls away from her. “Oh, that’s good,” he forces himself to say. “Who is he? Is there anything else I can do?”

She rolls her eyes. “Oh, Fitz.” She pecks his lips and grinds down a little on his half-hard self. “It’s you, and what you can do is kiss me again.”

He obliges, and she responds eagerly.

He opens his eyes for a second during the kiss, and he out of the corner of his eye he spots Katie, who gives him a thumbs-up and mouths “well done.”


End file.
